Sources: Earnie Stewart finalizing deal to become USMNT's first GM

CHESTER, Pa. — U.S Soccer is finalizing an agreement with Earnie Stewart to become the first general manager of the U.S. men’s national team, multiple sources told Yahoo Sports on Monday.

An official announcement is expected as early as this week, according to one source.

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The GM position was created after the USMNT failed to qualify for this summer’s World Cup in Russia.

The Americans hadn’t missed out on a trip soccer’s biggest event since 1986, breaking a run of seven consecutive appearances.

Stewart played in the 1994, 1998 and 2002 World Cups for the United States.

Born in the Netherlands to a Dutch mother and U.S. serviceman father, the 49-year-old Stewart currently serves as sporting director for the Philadelphia Union of MLS. Before that he worked as an executive with Dutch Eredivisie clubs NAC Breda and AZ Alkmaar. As a player he won 101 caps for the U.S. and enjoyed a 17-year professional career with several Dutch clubs and with D.C. United, helping DCU win MLS Cup in 2004.

U.S. Soccer declined to comment. But earlier Monday, Nico Romeijn, the U.S. Soccer Federation’s chief sport development officer and a member of the six-person committee dedicated to finding a GM (along with Carlos Bocanegra, Angela Hucles, Jay Berhalter, Ryan Mooney and USSF CEO Dan Flynn) admitted that the process was nearly complete.

“We’re in the final stage,” Romeijn told reporters prior to the USMNT’s friendly against Bolivia here Monday night. He added that around 10 candidates were interviewed for the job.